Baila, Tanya = Dance, Tanya

PreS-Gr 2-The very first line of this wonderful book sets the stage: ""Little Tanya adored the ballet..."" The softly rendered watercolors show a youngster imitating her big sister, Elisa, as she practices her ballet positions. Although Tanya desperately wants to take lessons at the academy with Elisa, she is still too little. Page after page shows her practicing pirouettes, arabesques, pli s, and grand jet s. Ichikawa captures the various movements by drawing several versions of the little girl within the same interior scenes. Tanya jumps and glides, soars and stumbles all over the pages. The story builds up to the night of Elisa's big performance. When all of the relatives return to the house to celebrate her success, little Tanya surprises everyone by recreating everything she has seen that night on stage. Her mother is so impressed that she allows Tanya to begin real ballet lessons. The appealing artwork is tenderly done and includes the kind of details that readers will pore over again and again. A valuable addition to any library or bookstore. Maria Otero-Boisvert, ""Criticas""